Gates gives newspapers a boost

Fans of newspapers should be glad Bill Gates has a couple of things going for him, besides being a gazillionaire, that they’ll like. (1.) At 50, the Microsoft founder is a comparatively young man, and (2.) he’s got a track record of being a very good prognosticator.

So, what does this have to do with newspapers? Simple. In an interview with The Independent, a UK newspaper/Web company, Gates said “Newspapers on paper will outlast me.”

Not that Gates thinks new media isn’t going to outlast print. It’s just that he doesn’t think the death of ink-on-paper is right around the corner as some doomsayers proclaim.

“I’m sure it will be more than 50 years when somebody is still printing a newspaper and taking it to someone, somewhere. … (Right Now) we are seeing the shift where younger people appreciate the flexibility of the internet to let them select the subjects that they have particular interest in, and to navigate links and see what’s hot. We are in the throes of a transition where every publication has to think of their digital strategy.”